The Fading Light in the Clouds
by April Dawn Irene
Summary: Darkness has overcome both the real world and the digital world. Now in hiding, 16 year old Kari Kamiya thinks she has lost what family she once had. Will the Darkness destroy what hope the two worlds have left? Or will light and hope light the way home?


Kari looked at the grave marked Tai Kamiya 1987-2005 while holding up a heavy crate marked Japan. He was the last one of her family to go. All of her friends were either dead or had left. There was barely anyone left in the Japanese Town of Odaiba. Only a few families that had no money to leave or still hoped that things would get better remained. She lacked sleep as her dreams haunted her every time she closed her eyes. Good food was rare... Fresh water was ever rarer. Her jeans were torn in many places from times she had run from them. It had finally happened. The evil Digimon had taken over and she could do nothing but keep walking towards the shelter she and a group of boys and girls who had also lost their families stayed when they weren't out scavenging for decent food. Gatomon had been destroyed not long ago when she had attempted to fight for Tai's life. Agumon had been destroyed too long before then. Her digivice sat uselessly in her back pocket, a reminder of the good times before all this. _'Tai... I wish you were here. I'm so sorry that I let you and the others down. I should have seen it coming. I should have stopped it before it went too far...'_ she stalled at a pile of rubble that wouldn't have normally gotten anyone's attention and crawled inside a small tunnel made by the rubble. Once inside she found the other boys and girls she lived with trying to warm themselves with an electrical heater powered by old batteries they had found in wrecked cars that would no longer drive.

"Kari, Look what we found. We went to one of the old apartment buildings and found this. It had a note for you." Kari took a glance at the yellow and white laptop that the blonde haired nine year old held up to her. It was Izzy's Pineapple Laptop.

"Thank you. Here, I found some cans of food and fruit. I'm not hungry so here." She handed the crate of canned food and fruit to the boy and took the laptop in return. There was a paper taped on it with a note.

_'Kari, I don't know if you'll ever get this but I hope you do. It's one of the last computers left in Japan. I looked all over for you after TK said you were still in the city. You don't need a digivice to use the Digiport just access the digiport manually the way I showed you and type in the access code 76663 and you'll be in the digiworld in no time. You can only bring 1 person at a time so whoever you're staying with, get them in first then go after all of them are cleared. If you don't you'll be found by Kindromon and he'll destroy you or use you as his mind slave.' Gennai & Izzy Izumi_

"...And even if she does choose to come here, what about Gatomon... primary village was destroyed." T.K. said, pacing back and forth through the large tent.

"I do not know. Gatomon was destroyed in the real world. It's a lot harder for a Digimon to come back from there. Except for when the worlds are merged, that's the only time it's simple. We've yet to locate Wizardmon's egg or even baby or rookie form. Tai always wanted to say thanks for saving Kari, that's why he was in that building. He was trying to give thanks..." Izzy trailed off as a bright light came from his newer laptop. It was much like his old one but platinum with a bright gold pineapple insignia on it rather than the usual old yellow and white coloration. A digiport had been opened from Odaiba but it wasn't Kari that came though first. A small boy holding onto a stuffed animal came through first. "Prodigious..."

"Is t-this t-the digiworld?" the boy wore a worn t-shirt and torn shorts that barely hung on his small body.

"Yes, you were sent by Kari, right?"

"Yeah... she's the oldest in our group. Unless you count my brother but he got captured three days ago."

"I'm so sorry. How many of there are you?"

"5 not counting my brother and Kari..." the boy looked exhausted and sat down immediately.

"Did you all have enough to eat?"

"No... Kari always gave us part of her share. She would say she wasn't hungry. She doesn't look the same like when she found us... Now she barely eats and never sleeps."

"When did she start to not sleep?"

"After Gatomon died. But Kari keeps saying she'll come back. I'm scared she won't. Kari really loved Gatomon... we all did. We saw the battle and we watched until it was too horrible to watch anymore." 3 more times the digiport was accessed and 3 more kids came through. One more boy and two girls.

"Tom... we all got through... Kindromon was just about to find us... I hope Kari gets through."

"You mean she might not make it?" Just as he said this a bright pink flash of light emitted from the laptop and Kari appeared holding a Digiegg with the crest of light on it.

"Kari!" Izzy and T.K. exclaimed in unison.

"Hey... she came back to me... Just before I was about to go..." Kari was much thinner, her hair was barely brown anymore. It was black from soot and dirt that she hadn't been able to wash out in ages. The one thing about digiports these days is that they did not change the way you looked especially since the war. That sort of thing was dangerous and would take all the power in a laptop unless it was plugged in and had a reliable source of energy.

"Kari... you look terrible. You need to eat and get some sleep."

"No... the kids are first. I'm sixteen, I can handle a little more before I'm completely out of energy."

"Kari... it's not your fault that Tai... died... we're not even sure that he did. When they searched the rubble, the couldn't even find a piece of his new goggles..."

"They said he was dead, T.K. if it hadn't been for me, he would have been coming through the digiport with me." A strange noise came from outside in the forest.

"Digimon come back, why can't digidestined come back too?" a strange choked male voice said in a cryptic manner.

Author's Note and Disclaimer: Sorry to leave you at a cliffhanger... It's just so much more fun that way!!! By the way, I don't own Digimon or anything affiliated. I do own the five kids and the storyline. I mean, who in their right minds would kill Tai off after seeing the last episode of season 02. I don't want to even think about what I'm going to write next. And who does the strange voice belong to? Find out next time on Kari's Choice... Evanescence singing the theme of Digimon season 02 while the credits roll


End file.
